Pumping system



H. M. JENKINS.

PUMPING SYSTEM. v APPL|CATION FILED AUG. 1B, 921.

1,4;35,2=9, Patented Nov. 14,1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI I H. M. JENKINS.

PUMPING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI 2.

Patented Nov. M, 1922.

H. M. JENKINS.

PUMPING SYSTEM.

APPLICATLON FILED AUG. I8, 1921.

1,4}35fi39, mm Nov. 14,1922,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented Nov. id, 3922.

UNITE STATES PATENT @FFHQE.

PUMPING SYSTEM.

Application filed August 18, 1921.

T 0 all 20 710m it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD M. JENKINS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have made a new and useful Invention in Pumping Systems,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to centrifugal pumps and has for an object toproduce a pumping system in which means are employed for maintaining theworking passages of the pump filled while the pump is in operation.

An object of this invention is to prevent erosion and corrosion of theworking parts of the pump occasioned by the passage of free air, othergases or vapor, through the pump.

A further and more general object is to produce new and improved meansin connection with a pumping system for maintaining an adequate supplyof liquid at the intake or suction port of a pump.

These, and other objects, which will be made apparent throughout thefurther description of the invention, are attained by means of apparatusassociated and combined as herein disclosed and embodying the featuresherein set forth.

In the drawings, Figure 1 diagrammatically illustrates a pumping systemembodying my invention and adapted for the removal of condensate from acondenser. F igure 2 is a view similar to Fig.1 illustrating a modifiedform of apparatus and Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a stillfurther modification of my invention.

In centrifugal and other rotary pumps, the pumped liquidis acted upon apropeller moving at a high velocity and it has been discovered that thepassage of free air, or other gases or vapors with the liquid traversingthe working passages of the pump occasions corrosion or erosion andthereby shortens the life of the pump. It is, therefore. highlydesirable to maintain the working passages full of liquid and so preventthe passage of free air or other compressible fluids with the liquid. Incondenser installations and particularly in surface condenserinstallations, the quantity of liquid to be pumped by the condensatepump varies with Serial No. 493,402.

the load on the prime mover. In addition to this, it is impractical tovary the speed of the condensate pump to compensate for the variationsin the amount of liquid pumped, Under such conditions, it is not onlyden sirable, but necessary, to provide a condensate pump of sufficientcapacity to discharge the maximum amount of condensate dischargedthrough the condenser, since otherwise, the condenser would tend toflood during periods of maximum load on the prime mover served by thecondenser. As a result, the working passages of the pump are onlypartially filled during periods of decreased load on the prime mover andfree air or other gases are sucked in through the intake of the pump andoccasion the objectionable corrosion and erosion. Under some conditionsof operation, the condensate drawn from the main condenser is employedas cooling water in a supplemental jet condenser. The supplementalcondenser usually serves an auxiliary such as an air ejector employedfor the purpose of removing air or other non-condensible vapors from themain condenser. In such instal lations, it is necessary to deliver asubstantially constant supply of cooling liquid to the supplementarycondenser, since the load on the auxiliaries is more or less independentof the load on the prime mover and remains substantially constant. Anobject of my intention is therefore, the production of means in apumping system for maintaining the supply of liquid delivered by thepump substantially constant and independent of variations in the amountof liquid at the main source of supply.

A further object is to provide simple and effective means forsupplementing the main source of supply to compensate for variationstherein.

Referring to the drawings; in Fig. 1, I have diagrammaticallyillustrated a surface condenser 4 and a centrifugal or rotary pump 5 forwithdrawing the condensate from the hot well (3 of the condenser. Asshown, the condensate delivery port of the condenser is connected to theintake port of the pump by means of piping 7 and 8. In the drawings, thepiping 7 discharges into the piping 8 which extends substantiallyvertically and communicates with a valve casing 9, of a float controlledvalve 10. The delivery port 10 of the valve casing 9 communicates withthe intake of the pump 5 and is specially formed so that the piping 8 isin open and free communication with the pump intake independently of theposition of the valve 10. The inlet port 10 of the valve casing 9communicates with a pipe or passage 11 which in turn communicates with asupplementary source of liquid supply.

nicates with a feed water tank 12 into which the pump 5 may discharge.

The valve 10 is operated by a float 13 located in'a float chamber 14communicating with the upper end of the piping 8. As shown, the floatchamber is located at substantially the -same level as the condensatewell 6 and the piping 7 forms an equalizing passage between the floatchamber and the condensate well, The float chamber is hermeticallysealed except that it is provided with a passage 15 which communicateswith the interior of the condenser 4t and with the interior of thechamber 14 at a point above the normal water level. The float 13 isoperatively connected to the valve 10 by means of a long stem 16 whichextends downwardly through the vertical piping 8. The valve 10 is 0arranged with relation to its seat that it is opened by a downwardmovement of the float and thereby establishes communication between theintake of the pump 5 and the supplemental source of liquid supply.

Under normal operation conditions, the float will be raised to its valveclosing position by the normal level of the condensate in the well 6 andthat under such conditions, the supply of supplemental liquid from thesource 12 will be .cut oil. As the water level in the well 6 falls, thefloat, moving downwardly, will open the valve 10 more or less, dependingupon the water level in the well 6 and will proportion the delivery ofwater from the supplemental source so as to compensate for thedecreasing head in the con-I densate well.

, One of the features of the invention is the arrangement of the float13 with relation to the valve 10 and particularly the connectionsbetween the float and the valve. It will be apparent that the float isso arranged with relation to the valve that no packings or lands arerequired for the valve stem 16. n the illustrated embodiment, this is accomplished by so locating the float chamber that the valve stem 16passes through the supply pipe 8 and the port 10 of the valvecasing 9;the valve 10 and its co-operating seats being so located with relationto the inlet port 10" that there is no tendency for leakage around thevalve stem when the valve is closed and consequently no necessity forvalve stem packings or glands. In opera- As illustrated, the pipe 11commution, the pump normally receives liquid from the hot well 6 anddelivers it through the discharge pipe or passage 18. As-the supply ofcondensate from thecondenser decreases, the condensate level in the hotwell falls, thus lowering the water level in the float chamber andopening the valve 10. As soon as the valve 10 is opened the water fromthe supplementary source 12 augments that from the-source 6 so as tomaintain a uniform delivery to the pump 5, since a decreasing waterlevel in the well 6 will increase the de livery of augmenting water fromthe supplementary source. As the supply of condensate increases, thewateizlevel will rise in the float chamber, thus decreasingthe deliveryfrom the supplemental source. WVhen the water reaches a predeterminedlevel in the float chamber, the valve 10 is completely closed and allthe water delivered to the pump is drawn from the well 6.

In Fig. 2, I have shown an arrangement'o-f apparatus similar to thatdisclosed in Fig. 1,

except that the float controlled valve 10 is located in a branch pipe 19which establishes communication between the delivery pipe 18 and theintake pipe 8 of the pump. As shown, the valve casing 9" is providedwith three ports, 10", 10 and 10 which respectively communicate with thedelivery pipe 18, the float chamber 141 and the equalizing or branchpassage 19.

As previously described, the float chamber is located at substantiallythe same level as the'condensate well 6 and is provided with a pressureequalizing passage 15. Valve casing 9 is also so formed'that free andopen communication exists between the float chamber 14 and the passage19 a-nd 8 when the valve 10 is closed. Valve stem 16 extends through theport 10 and the registering port of the float chamber. The valve is soconnected to the float and so located with relation to its seats thatpackings or' glands are rendered unnecessary for the reasons previouslyset forth.

As the water level falls in the condensate well 6 it will also fall inthe float chamber 14 by reason of the equalizing pipe 19 and after apredetermined low level has been reached,

the float 13 in moving downwardly will open in the previous embodiments,the con.

denser 1 is provided with a hot well 6 which communicates with theintake of the pump 5 through a passage 8% float chamber 14 is located atthe same level as the condensate well 6 and an equalizing passage 7establishes communication between the float chamber and the condensatewell. The float controlled valve 9 is, however, adapted to control thedelivery of water from a secondary source, such as the feed tank 12,into the condenser 4. T o accomplish this, piping 20 establishescommunication between a water delivery port formed in the condensershell and the port 10 of the valve casing; and piping 21 establishescommunication between the supplemental source-12j and the inlet port 10of the valve casing. The valve stem 16" extends upwardly through atubular member 17 located between the floatchamber 14 and the valvecasing 10 As the water level in the condensate well falls, the floatmoves downwardly and opens the valve 9 thereby establishingcommunication between the supplemental source 12 and the interior of thecondenser. Atmospheric pressure will occasion a delivery of water fromthe source 12 to the interior of the condenser and the water sodelivered will augment the supply of condensate entering the condensatewell. As soon as the water rises to a predetermined level in thecondensate well, the float will close the valve 9 and so shut off thesupply of augmenting water.- The arrangement of apparatus is such thatthe valve stem 16 need not necessarily be provided with a packing glandor packing such as is ordinarily employed since leakage from the valvechamber into the float chamber will not be objectionable and the closingof the valve will absolutely prevent such leakage. By providing atubular member 17 such as is illustrated in Fig. 3, with a relativelysmall passage formed therein, the frictional resistance to flow will cutdown the flow from the valve casing 10 to the float chamber 14 to suchan extent that appreciable quantities of liquid will not be delivereddirectly to the float chamber. If the opening through the tubular member17 is of such diameter that it merely provides a free sliding fit forthe valve stem, flow through the clearance space around the valve stemmay be absolutely prevented by'lengthening the member as shown in Fig.3.

The apparatus of Fig.3 is particularly well adapted for use inconnection with a supplemental condenser where the pump 5 deliverscooling water to the supplemental condenser since the water from thesecondary source will be partially cooled in passing through thecondenser.

While I have illustrated and described three modifications of thepumping system embodying my invention it will be apparent that other andvarious modifications may be made in any one of the systems withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth by theappended claims.

I claim 1. In combination in a pumping system, a rotary pump, a normalsource of supply communicating therewith, a supplemental source andmeans responsive in operation to variations of the supply of liquid fromthe normal source for delivering water from the supplemental source tosaid pump.

2. In combination in a pumping system, a centrifugal pump, a main sourceof supply in open and free communication with the intake of said pump,and a float controlled valve responsive in operation to variations inthe amount of liqu d at main source for delivering a supplementingsupply of liquid.

3. In combination in a pumping system, a .centrifugal pump, a mainsource of supply, piping establishing open communication between themain source of supply and the intake of. said pump and afloat-controlled valve located in said piping for augmenting the supplyof liquid delivered to said pump.

4. In combination in a pumping system, a centrifugal pump, a main sourceof supply, a float chamber, piping establishing communication betweensaid source of supply, said float chamber and the intake of said pump, avalve located in said piping for delivering an augmenting supply ofliquid to said pump, a float in said float chamber and a valve stemextending through said piping and connecting said valve and said float.

5. In combination in a pumping system, a pump, a source of liquidsupply, piping establishing open communication between said source andthe intake to said pump, a valve casing located in said piping and soformed as to provide a free passage therethrough independently of theposition of the enclosed valve, a float chamber in open communicationwith said pipe and said casing, a valve located in said casing andoperatively se cured to said float for controlling the delivery of asupplemental supply of liquid to said pump.

6. In combination in a pumping system, a condenser, a pump forwithdrawing condensate therefrom, a valve for delivering a supplementalsupply of liquid to said pump, a float controlling the operation of saidvalve, a. float chamber enclosing said float and equalizing passagesbetween said chamber and the interior of, the condenser above and belowthe normal water level therein.

7. In combination in a condenser, a centrifugal pump for withdrawingcondensate therefrom, a float chamber, an equalizing passage betweensaid chamber and said condenser, a valve for delivering an augmentingsupply of liquid to said pump, a float located in said chamber foractuating said valve, a casing on said valve and means including saidvalve casing establishing open .communication between the intake of thepump and said condenser.

8. In combination with a condenser, a pump for withdrawing condensatefrom the condensate well of the condenser, a valve for controlling thedelivery of augmenting liquid to the condenser, a float for controllingthe valve, a float chamber enclosing the float a liquid level equalizingpassage between the chamber and the well, and a pressure equalizingpassage between the chamber and the interior of the condenser.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 6th day ofAugust,

H. M. JENKINS.

